Kodak receives $500 million bid for patents: WSJ

A collection of bidders has offered Eastman Kodak Co more than $500 million for some of its digital imaging patents, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter.

The deal was submitted in the past few weeks and has not been finalized. The details of the bidders involved, aside from being made up of Silicon Valley technology companies and firms that specialize in buying patents, could not be confirmed, the Journal said. (http://link.reuters.com/buc54t)

Last month the one-time photography giant said it accepted an $830 million financing offer from a group of bondholders to help it emerge from bankruptcy. The financing was contingent on the sale of Kodak's digital imaging patents for at least $500 million.

Kodak has been trying to sell its portfolio of 1,100 patents, which it valued between $2.2 billion to $2.6 billion, for more than a year, but any sale has been hindered by litigation over ownership of some of the patents.

The company, which had unsuccessfully tried to redefine itself as a consumer products seller, filed for bankruptcy in January, after years of falling film sales. It has said it wants to be out of bankruptcy by early 2013.

Kodak could not be reached for comment by Reuters outside of regular business hours.

(Reporting by Tej Sapru in Bangalore; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman)

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